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Article - CS26051

Manual Uninstall & Install of the Windchill Workgroup Manager "PTC WFS Controller" service or "PTC Windchill File System"

Modified: 08-Apr-2026   


Applies To

  • Windchill PDMLink 10.0 to 13.1
  • Windchill Workgroup Manager (WWGM)
  • SolidWorks
  • Inventor

Description

  • How to perform a manual uninstall & install of the Windchill Workgroup Manager PTC WFS Controller service or PTC Windchill File System?
  • Is there a way to clean up residual Windows Registry service entries from previous WGM installation?
  • Installing an updated Windchill Workgroup Manager fails:
WINDCHILL_WORKGROUP_MANAGER_PtcInstall.log:
DEBUG  <timestamp> - Encountered id7, considering installing VFS
DEBUG  <timestamp> - Args: [C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe, /c, msiexec.exe, /i, D:\ptc\wm\installer\PtcVfs.msi, /qn, /norestart, /l, D:\ptc\wm\installer\logs\PtcVfs.log]
DEBUG  <timestamp> - msiexec returns: 1603
DEBUG  <timestamp> - Generic error installing PtcVfs.msi, msiexec.exe return code: 1,603
DEBUG  <timestamp> - Exiting with return code 92,112
PtcVfs.log:
Action start <timestamp>: InstallFinalize.
CAQuietExec64:  Error 0x80070005: Command line returned an error.
CAQuietExec64:  Error 0x80070005: CAQuietExec64 Failed
Action ended <timestamp>: InstallFinalize. Return value 3.
Action ended <timestamp>: INSTALL. Return value 3.
Action ended <timestamp>: ExecuteAction. Return value 3.
Action ended <timestamp>: INSTALL. Return value 3.
=== Logging stopped: <timestamp> ===
MSI (c) (74:24) [<timestamp>]: Product: PTC Virtual File System -- Removal failed.
  • PTC installation assistant displays a message Pending Prerequisite during the installation of Windchill Workgroup Manager (WGM)
  • Getting the following error when installing Windchill Workgroup Manager: 
    • A fatal error occurred during MSI installation
  • Microsoft Windows Event Viewer shows the error:
    • The description of the event ID 0 from source PTC WFS Controller cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer
  • When trying to remove old version of Windchill Workgroup Manager and install a newer version, the install fails with A fatal error occurred during MSI installation, refer to the installation log file for more information
  • Windchill File System cannot be uninstalled in Control Panel
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